Focus Your Messaging
The other day, my boss sent around the following ad with the simple request: “Please help me understand this ad.”
What's the story?
Admittedly, the ad isn’t great. It’s busy, small, and looks slightly cheap. I understand it’s for either a scanner or a shredder at first glance, but that’s about all I can decipher. Here’s how I responded:
The message here is simple.
Basically, the couple can enjoy a night out because their storage room has been transferred to digital images and stored on an electronic device. Frankly, that’s why I haven’t been out of the house in nigh on to 8 years. Have you seen my storage room? It’s disgusting, files everywhere. Just once I’d like to head out for a night on the town, but every time I’m paralyzed with fear over what’s going on in my storage room. Didn’t know single guys with townhouses even had storage rooms? You bet your ass we do, and mine is ruining my life.
However, that’s not all this ad is saying. The subtext of this ad says something new in Obamerica. It says something about where we’ve come as a nation, as a society that not long ago had segregated drinking fountains, bathrooms, etc. due to something as trivial as race. It says that in today’s society a small device made in Japan (our enemies in WW2) can make life that much more simple for the now readily accepted successful black family from Chicago.
However, I’m sure everyone got that. The thing that is clearly troubling you is the fact that there’s apparently a 5 star restaurant in the middle of Lake Michigan. I don’t know how the hell that’s possible.
The ad became a great example of what not to do. There’s too much text in too many places, 2 starkly different images, and no call to action within the ad itself. Not to mention, the fact that it makes little to no sense without a lengthy back-story. In the end, a poorly designed ad, that suffered from poor execution.
It did make for a fun office joke though ;)
Have a great weekend everyone!
And here I thought that ScanSnap was going to scan personal ads for me & get me a date with a cute girl at a fantasy five-star restaurant. :( Bummer.
Plus, did anyone else notice that our friend seems to be scanning a detailed profile of some white woman?
haha I love it. First thing I thought of was that he had pulled up her police records on that. instead of running through his storage space. Really bad advert..
…the longer I look at it, the less it makes sense???
Annie